Huge dockyard barges, piled with casks and stores, were being towed alongside the ships of war, and the bustle and life of the scene were delightful indeed to Jack, accustomed only to the quiet sleepiness of a cathedral town like Canterbury.

Inquiring which was the "Falcon," a paddle steamer moored in the stream was pointed out to them by a boatman.
"Oh dear," Jack said, "she looks small in comparison with those big men-of-war." "She is none the worse, Jack, for that," his father said.

"If there should be fighting, it will scarcely be at sea.

The Russian fleet will not venture to engage the fleets of England and France united, and you are likely to see much more active work in a vessel like the 'Falcon' than in one of those floating castles.

Hullo, Charles, is that you ?" he broke off, lying his hand upon the shoulder of a naval officer, who was pushing his way though the crowd of boatmen and sailors to a man-of-war gig, which, with many others, was lying by the Hard.
"Hullo, uncle, is that you ?" he replied.